I just gave my Walther PPQ away to a friend of mine. It had an issue, slightly. But it was resolved. It's fine now. I gave it away to my good friend. It's his first gun. He's gone shooting with me before. He's a fine shot. A lefty. The PPQ was made for him.

Invited him over just to hang out for a few. Had him hold the PPQ he said he liked it I said "it's yours" and pulled out a bill of sale that I had already completed my side of. He was so happy and shocked. That was cool to see. I mean...I don't NEED it. Clearly He's always been a great friend of mine since high school even.

I gave my nephew a Rough Rider .22 lr that he shot well, and my need for it had passed. I bought it during the ammo, and primer drought of '08. When I found a good supply of primers I was going to gift it to someone. Well he shot it well, he liked it. (I asked my brother first before giving it to him.) He thought it was the coolest gift ever. I gave one of my cousins a Mosin Nagant 91/30, and a 440 round spam can of ammo becasue he thought it was neat. He still shoots the crap out of it. My nephew, and brother are seeing how many bricks of .22 lr the Rough Rider will eat before it conks out.

__________________
No matter how many times you do it and nothing happens it only takes something going wrong one time to kill you.

I recently gave my best friend a Kahr T9, and my brother a Keltec PF9. I had just recently sold my car because I'll be leaving shortly for the Army. Needless to say, I went on a bit of a gun buying spree. It was fun seeing the looks on their faces.

A few years ago I gave my dad a Springfield 1911 for Fathers Day. He's 92 years old now and is full of stories... a real talker. That day he was telling us all a story involving a 1911. We had heard the story many times before and knew it word for word. I waited until he reached a particular point in the story and then presented the gun to him. It was one of the few times in his life he was speechless. I'm not sure but he may have teared up a bit.

My father has given me quite a few. The first, many years ago, when I was eighteen. I argued with a police officer in a road check and proved him wrong. He though, me being under 21, it was illegal for me to possess it. In my state I was allowed to own it, just not buy it, or ammo for it. The officer tried to confiscate the pistol until his supervisor informed him of the law.

Long story short, yep, I have been given quite a few handguns. I have even given a few away as presents. No worries as long as the person is allowed by law to own them.

__________________
" The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to
keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect
themselves against tyranny in Government...." - Thomas Jefferson

Absolutely--My family has done it for a generation at least. Mostly classic used pieces but new ones here and there. Most recently myself, I gave matching .380's to my mother and her sister AKA my Aunt.

__________________NRA Life Member
“A free people ought...to be armed..."
―George Washington

You were very nice to your friend and what goes around comes around. As far as gifting a gun in most all circumstances, I would recommend a gift card at a local gun store.

Let your friend or relative go through the same process each of us went throught when we buy a gun. I have friends who I don't know everything about or all of their past.

I assume your friend was a very different situation and you used good judgement in this situation. Please do not take my above comments as any sort of criticizm vs. just a thought for others to consider.

Mike is a poor but honest college boy,,,
He works at my favorite watering hole for years,,,
He's been schlepping food and beer to me for all those years.

A couple summers ago I invited him to go shooting,,,
He did just fine and we went to the range on many occasions.

When he was about to graduate I wanted to do something a bit special for him,,,
I took a look in my gun cabinet and decided the one I could part with,,,
Ruger 22/45 Mk-III with 4.5" slab-side barrel and fixed sights.

When I first got back into shooting,,,
This was the first pistol I bought to practice with

I take kids from the watering hole shooting all the time,,,
There is one young lady who has impressed me,,,
She showed a real interest and a level head.

I've bought two guns as gifts for my family, both as Christmas gifts. The first one was a S&W 686 and the second was a Ruger SP101...

Wow--I cannot imagine a better gift/s than those two aesthetically beautiful yet tank-like durable workhorse revolvers! That is a Christmas one will never forget (could've gone with the 'Timex' but opted for the 'Rolex' instead classy indeed).

__________________NRA Life Member
“A free people ought...to be armed..."
―George Washington

Oldest daughter moved out of town and I thought she needed protection, discussed it with her, she became comfortable and proficient with her boyfriend's Glock 19 and I bought her one for her 29th birthday. She's a great shot and I feel better knowing she has something other than a fluffy pillow to help protect herself.

A very good friend has a wonderful deer lease in the Hill Country of south central Texas. It's unbelievable. He constantly invites me down to go hunting and I try my best to not take advantage of his generosity.

I have offered to reimburse him a protion of his lease fee and he refuses.

I show up one weekend during dove season with a Sig 1911 Nightmare. He enjoys IDPA and 2/3 gun competition using his vintage Colt 1911 and after he shot my Sig he really fell in love with it.

I found another Sig, bought it and gave it to him just before Thanksgiving as a thank you for being such a generous friend.

Gave my Dad an Inland M1 carbine for Christmas I had bought from CMP as rack grade. I worked on it 6 months refinishing the stock and getting it into a really nice condition. He was thrilled.

Had a nephew that graduated high school and was all the time at my house wanting to shoot when he came to visit. Handguns, rifles, shotguns, whatever I wanted to shoot he was up for it. He is a good kid with nearly straight A's, works and is in college nearby. So I asked his parents if I could give him a gun when he graduated high school and they keep until he got into his twenties and they agreed, so I gave him a really nice norinco SKS. He loves it and wants to bring it over to shoot at my place all the time or go to their local range. His Dad takes him and his younger brother all the time to the local range.

I gave my cousin a Bulgarian Makarov 9X18 this last fall. He has cancer which in the long run is going to be terminal. He has surgery to remove tumors and chemo and it goes into remission a while and then comes back. He is unable to work and on limited income but loves guns. He had managed to save some money and get his carry permit and was carrying around a lorcin and eventually a hi-point.

I was in my local gun/pawn establishment and ran across this really nice arsenal Bulgy Mak that looked brand new and thought of him. Cost me $200 but the look on his face was worth every penny and more when I handed him a pistol case and he opened it and I said it's yours. He said how much? I said nothing, it's yours, enjoy guy.

That being said I have been on the receiving end of getting a gun as a gift. My mother-in-law which I love to death is a gun girl! She buys me a gun nearly every Christmas. A Ruger Sp101, Polish Tokarov, Commander 1911, etc... Aside from her buying me nice toys at Christmas I can honestly say she is a sweat heart, has been from day one!

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